


Gently

by Anatemnein



Category: Designing Women
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 14:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21411601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anatemnein/pseuds/Anatemnein
Summary: Julia broaches the subject of intimacy while on a date with Anthony.
Relationships: Anthony Bouvier/Julia Sugarbaker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Gently

**Author's Note:**

> This story includes subtle allusions to rape. 
> 
> Thanks to all who read/comment on my stories.

~~~~

The crunch of gravel under Anthony's tires was the only noise that broke through the still, quiet Georgia night. A soft breeze rustled the leaves in the trees above him as he slowed his car to a stop, looking at the clock on his dash and seeing that it read 7:45. He and Julia had just enjoyed a romantic dinner out, and he sat nervously beside her as he watched her gaze up at the stars through the windshield. They had only been dating a few weeks, and his brain still had trouble processing the concept of his boss as his girlfriend, and had even more trouble not making any sexual advances. Anthony knew that as badly as he wanted to pursue a physical relationship with Julia, sex to her was an act reserved for those she trusted, and while Anthony had enjoyed a fair bit of casual sex before he dated her, he knew that approaching this aspect of their relationship with tact and respect was essential.

Still, he felt his better judgment folding slightly as he watched her, her pale, pretty face turned upward, causing her dark curls to fall passed her shoulders. 

Suddenly, Julia turned toward him and smiled, fluttering her lashes at him. "Thank you for dinner, darlin', I had a lovely time" she said softly.

Anthony felt the heat rising to his face as he stammered, "Oh, oh sure, Julia, me too, I'm glad you did too."

Julia giggled a little as Anthony rubbed his hands together nervously and looked away, shifting again in his seat. For all her worldliness and experience, Julia always found Anthony's boyish quality one of the most charming things about him, and really, if she was honest with herself, it was more endearing than any of Reese's attempts at macho-manliness. 

She reached across the console and laid a hand on his arm, stroking it gently and watching as he slowly turned to face her. 

"Have you ever been out here, Anthony?"

"Oh," Anthony said awkwardly, looking around curiously, "uh, no, I uh...well, I guess I was sorta wonderin' why the heck we were in a park after dark, if you catch my drift. This is the sort of place a guy like me would never go on his own in the neighborhood I grew up in."

Julia giggled again and looked up at the sky briefly before turning back to him. "Anthony, this is a perfectly safe place. All the college kids go here. I only know because Payne mentioned it to me when he was about 19 or so."

"Oh...oh okay" Anthony said again, looking around in bewilderment.

Julia touched his arm again as she opened the car door. "Come on, let's go for a walk" she said, stepping out into the night and closing the door behind her.

Anthony paused briefly, before inhaling deeply and stepping outside himself. He silently bemoaned his choice of girlfriend as he looked out into the dark, the trees swaying slowly as the fall breeze wrapped around them. 

Julia watched as he glanced around nervously, waiting for him to fall in line beside her as they started down the paved trail that lead toward a gazebo. She was silent for a moment before she took in a deep breath and looked at him and said, "Anthony, I want to talk about our relationship."

Anthony looked down at her, his brain wondering why they couldn't just do this in the car as he said, "Sure, uh, okay, what's wrong?"

Julia stifled a giggle as she said, "Nothing's wrong, Anthony."

"Oh, oh, okay" he said, looking around again. 

Julia stopped, watching as Anthony stopped too and looked at her curiously and asked, "What, what's wrong, you hear somethin'?"

Julia looked down and shook her head, looking up at him as she said, "No, darlin'. I just..." she sighed, trailing off and looking back at the car briefly before saying, "well, I brought you out here for a reason Anthony."

"You gonna kill me?" he asked, cocking a worried eyebrow at her.

"No, no, Anthony, don't be silly" she said, swatting him gently. "I just...I know you've been thinking about our relationship."

Anthony paused nervously, his mind whirring, wondering if she knew that he was having...thoughts...about her. "Oh, uh, well, no, not really Julia--"

Julia smiled and reached for his hand, grabbing it shyly between her own and looking up at him. "It's okay, Anthony. I know you have, you don't have to be ashamed. I'm not a virgin, you know."

At this, Anthony turned bright red and looked down. "Why Julia--I mean, I know--uh--"

Julia stepped closer toward him and rested her hands on his chest, looking deeply into his eyes. "Anthony...I didn't mean to be crass, but...well, we've been going out for a few weeks now and...I know we're not ready to say 'I love you' yet, and I'm not ready for..._that_...yet, but, well, we could, you know, do a little more than just kiss shyly after a date."

Anthony looked curiously down at her, watching the stars reflecting brightly in her doe eyes as she looked up at him. Deep down he knew he wasn't in love yet, but he also knew, as she looked up at him with all the trust and honesty in the world, that he felt himself slipping closer toward that deep feeling, and it scared him a little bit. Anthony had said 'I love you' before to a few girlfriends--two, to be exact--but he had never felt as deeply for them as he did for Julia. He smiled down at her, taking his hands and grabbing hers gently from where they rested on his chest as he watched her blush shyly. 

"Well...well okay, maybe I have been thinkin' some things" he said quietly, watching her look down and giggle quietly.

"I sort of thought you did" she said teasingly, smirking at him.

"How did you figure that out?"

Julia bit her lip and leaned forward slightly as she whispered, "Let's just say I've noticed you peeking at my legs in a way you didn't used to do."

Anthony was quiet for a moment before he slowly nodded and said simply, "Well...yeah", feeling her swat him again as he laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Do you know why I brought you to this spot?" she asked softly.

"Well...to be honest I'm still wonderin' about that" he said teasingly. "I don't suppose we're gonna do anything out here."

"Anthony!" Julia cried, shaking her head as he laughed again, throwing a look his way as she said, "Noooo, no we are not going to be doing..._anything_ outside."

Anthony smiled playfully down at her. "I'm just teasing, baby, no, I don't know where I am or why we're here, but I'm listening if you want to let me know."

Julia smiled at him, looking down briefly before saying, "They call this spot, 'Lovers Lane'. Like I said, Payne told me about it years ago. He and his buddies used to take their dates up here after hours, to, you know, neck and that sort of thing."

"An honest pursuit" Anthony said in mock seriousness.

She stifled another grin as she said, "Well, I was sort of thinking that...you know...maybe we could spend some time in your car, sitting under the stars and...you know..." Julia tried not to, but she felt herself blush furiously as she looked down at her shoes and wiggled awkwardly.

Anthony cocked a brow at her and said, "You're talking about neckin', ain't you?"

"Anthony!" she cried, blushing even more deeply as she pulled away from him. "If you're going to be crass about it--"

Anthony reached for her hands and cocked his head at her. "I'm just messing around, Julia, I'm sorry, I was just trying to break the tension, that's all. To be honest, I'm about as nervous as you, so it's okay."

Julia looked down again as his hands gently grabbed hers, their fingers lacing together slowly. "No you're not, Anthony. You grew up in a different time than me; your generation is so much more...cavalier about these kinds of things. I mean, I know you all call it 'making out' and all, but...well...well, I guess I'm just trying to figure out the classiest way I can to tell you that I'd like to be a little more intimate with you than what we are right now."

Anthony felt his heart swelling with some mysterious feeling he couldn't quite define as he offered her his arm and said, "Well, tell you what. How about we go back to my car, start kissing, and see where things go, okay?"

"I'm not ready for sex, Anthony" Julia said seriously, looking up at him with a sort of worry that made him feel a little sad.

"I know. To be honest, I think that's a good thing. I'm gonna honor your wishes in the most gentlemanly way that I guy who grew up where I did possibly can, and you can tell me what you want and what you don't, okay?"

Julia bit her lip as she slowly felt her heart melting, taking his arm and looking up into his eyes. In truth, Julia had never felt...safe...with Reese. Their first time had been at his home, at his behest, and while she had gone along with it, inwardly she knew that if she was given a choice, she would've abstained for a little while longer. 

As they walked back to his car Julia said softly, "You know, Anthony, I can tell you that you're a lot different than Reese."

"Well, I think we both know there are _many_ ways in which I am different from Reese" he said jokingly, hearing the crunch of leaves beneath his shoes.

"No, I mean..." Julia inhaled slowly and Anthony looked over at her, catching a mysterious, sad look in her eyes as she said, "...I just, I just want to thank you for giving me a choice about things, Anthony."

Anthony stopped suddenly, opening the car door for her and feeling the realization slowly hit him of what she was implying as she looked down at the ground, her fingers trembling slightly as she rested them atop the car door.

He paused for a moment before touching her waist and saying, "Julia, no matter how far things go between us, you always have a choice with me, okay?"

Julia smiled sadly as a tear slipped down her cheek and said, "Thank you. Of course, you know that you do too. I want you to know that whatever you do for me, I'll do for you too."

Anthony smiled and watched her climb inside, shutting the door behind her gently and walking around the car to the driver's side, climbing in and looking nervously over at her as he closed his door.

Julia hesitated for a moment before lifting up the center console so it wouldn't be in their way. She paused again before she touched his chest, slowly leaning forward and kissing him. 

Anthony gently wrapped his hands around her waist, kissing her gently and feeling her tongue brush his lips. He was surprised that she was deepening the kiss so soon, but he happily obliged and before long, they were kissing each other passionately, barely aware of anything besides one another.

Anthony felt Julia gently pull away and looked at her curiously as she whispered, "Can I sit on your lap?"

Anthony opened his arms and said, "Sure baby", watching as she scooted onto his lap, blushing shyly as she wrapped her hands around his neck and smiled at him. 

"Would you be okay with kissing my neck?" she asked shyly, fiddling with his collar.

Anthony looked at her carefully. "Would _you_ be okay with my kissing your neck?"

She blushed again and said, "Yeah" as he inhaled slowly and gently kissed her collarbone, slowly working his way up her neck and hearing her moan softly.

He pulled back and looked nervously at her and asked, "Everything okay?"

She smiled down at him and pulled him closer as she said, "Mm-hmm" and Anthony took this as his cue to pick up where he'd left off, feeling his arousal rising slowly as she arched her body against his and moaned softly on top of him, her hands running teasingly through his hair as she felt herself grow more comfortable by the minute. Julia had never felt this way with anyone before, and she felt her guard dropping as her breath quickened and she pulled away, kissing him deeply and biting his lower lip gently.

At this, Anthony moaned, feeling every muscle in his body tense up as he struggled not to grow so aroused that she would be able to _feel_ it from where she was sitting on his lap. He felt her gently trail her hands under the fabric of his shirt, her breath hitching as she kissed him again and teased the skin of his torso. 

Neither of them was sure how much time passed, and in truth, it wouldn't have mattered to them anyway. They kissed each other passionately, grabbing at one another and feeling their reserve dissipate as they connected more deeply to each other than they had ever before. 

Eventually, the broke apart, Julia blushing shyly as she sat on Anthony's lap and played with his sweater. Anthony leaned forward and waited until she looked at him before he said, "Everything okay?"

She looked gently at him as she nodded, unable to find the confidence to say yes as he chuckled at her shyness and planted a kiss on her neck. 

"I really like that" she said softly, looking at him briefly and then away again.

"You like what, baby?"

She bit her lip before she said, "The way you kiss my neck."

He grinned and whispered, "Well, I like the way you tease me when you're kissin' me."

She giggled, shaking her head and whispered, "I...I want us to take our relationship to the next level, Anthony. I'm just...I'm not ready yet, but if you give me time, I promise I will be."

"Well you know what, Julia?" he asked softly, rubbing her back. "You can take all the time in the world, because I'm more than okay with waiting."

"I only want us to if you do too, you know" she said suddenly, looking at him nervously.

Anthony laughed and said, "Baby, I know I want to. I do. I want us to keep goin' like we have been, and keep seeing each other, and kissing each other, and all that, and I want you to be the one to tell me when you feel like you're ready for sex, okay?" 

Julia stroked his hair with her thumb as she said, "Thank you, Anthony."

"I promise I'll do right by you, Julia."

"I know" she said softly, pulling him in for a hug as a tear slipped down her cheek. She gently wiggled off his lap and back over to her seat, smiling at him as he started the car and drove on to her home. They laced their fingers together, looking at each other shyly before eventually pulling into her driveway. Anthony walked Julia to her door and kissed her gently as he said, "Goodnight baby, you sleep well, okay?"

"You too" she said, hugging him tightly before slowly letting him go as she opened her front door and stepped inside. 

"See you at breakfast tomorrow?" he asked gently, kissing her hand before letting it go.

"I'll have our coffee ready" she said happily, watching as he walked slowly back to his car and drove off into the night. She shut her door, turning the lock and smiling to herself as she walked upstairs to her bedroom to get ready for bed. For the first time in a long time, Julia felt safe with someone, and she already knew that after tonight, she would soon be ready give herself to Anthony. She also knew that this time, there would be no fear, and no regret. 


End file.
